Blue Jay takes flight to home plate – ‘You might not ever see that again’

In the seventh inning of the Blue Jays’ 6-5 win in St. Louis on Tuesday night, Toronto outfielder Chris Coghlan literally soared into the annals of baseball with one of the best slides you’ll ever see.

With the game tied at 2, the Jays’ Kevin Pillar lined a triple to right field. Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty mistimed his leap, then chased the ball down. His throw to the plate was in time — until Superman took off, leaping tall buildings — or at least Yadier Molina — in a single bound.

“It’s just tough. You’ve got all these rules. It used to just be if he’s in the line, you run him over,” Coghlan said. “All that stuff happens, believe it or not, as you’re running. Even though it’s happening really fast, the last three steps are really slow in your mind. Those are all the thoughts that I had. It’s like, ‘OK, run him over. Oh wait, I don’t know, he’s in front of the plate. He’s down, maybe I can jump, so let’s jump.’ Kind of like that.”

The Blue Jays knew they saw history.

“He got up there, didn’t he? You’ve got to win that game because that’s what made it worthwhile,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “You probably don’t see that for 100 years.”

Toronto pitcher Marco Estrada added, “When I saw Coghlan do a front flip over Molina, it was like I saw a unicorn or something. It’s just something that never happens. You might not ever see that again.”